Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.
Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA.
Sci Rep. 2018 Oct 10;8(1):15053. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-33209-0.
Napping benefits long-term memory formation and is a tool many individuals use to improve daytime functioning. Despite its potential advantages, approximately 47% of people in the United States eschew napping. The goal of this study was to determine whether people who endorse napping at least once a week (nap+) show differences in nap outcomes, including nap-dependent memory consolidation, compared with people who rarely or never nap (nap-). Additionally, we tested whether four weeks of nap practice or restriction would change sleep and performance profiles. Using a perceptual learning task, we found that napping enhanced performance to a greater degree in nap+ compared with nap- individuals (at baseline). Additionally, performance change was associated with different electrophysiological sleep features in each group. In the nap+ group, spindle density was positively correlated with performance improvement, an effect specific to spindles in the hemisphere contralateral to the trained visual field. In the nap- group, slow oscillatory power (0.5-1 Hz) was correlated with performance. Surprisingly, no changes to performance or brain activity during sleep emerged after four weeks of nap practice or restriction. These results suggest that individual differences may impact the potential benefits of napping on performance and the ability to become a better napper.
小睡有益于长期记忆的形成，是许多人用来改善白天功能的工具。尽管有潜在的好处，但美国大约有 47%的人避免小睡。本研究的目的是确定每周至少小睡一次（nap+）的人是否在小睡结果方面存在差异，包括与很少或从不小睡（nap-）的人相比，与小睡相关的记忆巩固。此外，我们还测试了四周的小睡练习或限制是否会改变睡眠和表现特征。使用感知学习任务，我们发现与 nap-个体相比，nap+个体在基线时小睡能更大程度地提高表现。此外，在每组中，表现的变化与不同的睡眠电生理特征相关。在 nap+组中，纺锤波密度与表现的提高呈正相关，这种效应是针对与训练视野相对侧半球的纺锤波而言的。在 nap-组中，慢波振荡功率（0.5-1 Hz）与表现相关。令人惊讶的是，经过四周的小睡练习或限制后，睡眠期间的表现或大脑活动没有变化。这些结果表明，个体差异可能会影响小睡对表现和成为更好的小睡者的能力的潜在益处。
